James Duane

James Duane (6 February 1733-1 February 1797) was Mayor of New York City from 1784 to 1789, succeeding David Mathews and preceding Richard Varick. He was a member of the Federalist Party.

Biography
James Duane was born in New York City, New York in 1733, and he was admitted to the bar in 1754. At the height of his success, he had a house in Manhattan, one in the country, and an estate near Schenectady, and he served as Clerk of the Chancery Court of New York in 1762, acting provincial Attorney General in 1767, and Indian Commissioner in 1774. In 1774, he was made a delegate to the Continental Congress, and he was one of the delegates most disposed to reconciliation with Great Britain. He opposed the US Declaration of Independence, but, after the British sent a massive army to crush the revolution in 1776, Duane became a supporter of the patriot cause. In 1778, he signed the Articles of Confederation in Philadelphia, and he went on to serve in the New York State Senate from 1783 to 1790 and served as Mayor of New York City from 1784 to 1789. In 1785, he was a co-founder of the New York Manumission Society, and he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. From 1789 to 1794, he served as the US District Judge for the District of New York, and he was forced to resign due to ill health, dying in 1797.